November 26th, 2013, Aisha Qureshi
- 75% of online respondents say FIFA should not allow another nation to hold the FIFA 2022 World Cup after having granted Qatar the right to do so
- 83% of online respondents say Qatar is a suitable country for hosting the FIFA World Cup in 2022
- 64% of online respondents say winter is the best season to host the FIFA 2022 World Cup in Qatar
Majority of the online respondents agree Qatar being centrally located provides easy accessibility to visitors/fans across the globe (85 percent), offers a welcoming atmosphere to hold the FIFA World Cup in 2022 (80 percent), and can host it in summer as per international standards (70 percent). Majority of the online respondents say they are really looking forward to the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup (81 percent) with a high proportion who claim Qatar is a suitable country for hosting the FIFA World Cup in 2022 (83 percent).
When online respondents were asked which season they think FIFA 2022 World Cup is going to be held in Qatar, almost half correctly answered ‘summer’ (48 percent), as compared to 30 percent who feel it is going to be held in winter. A high proportion of online respondents say winter is the best season for hosting the FIFA 2022 World Cup in Qatar (64 percent).
There are ongoing debates if Qatar 2022 World Cup should move to winter in order to avoid the scorching heat in summer. Similar proportion of online respondents say FIFA is being pressured to change the venue for the FIFA 2022 World Cup by the nations that lost the chance to host the World Cup (60 percent), as well as by other nations (59 percent). When online respondents (apart from those who say Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup is best to be held in winter) were asked about their opinion, two-fifth say it should be moved to winter as compared to more than a quarter who say it should be held in summer itself (29 percent). Among those who say it should be shifted to winter, top two reasons stated by a high proportion of respondents include visitors being able to enjoy more in winter (78 percent) and players/visitors finding it difficult to get used to the summer heat (76 percent).
Similar proportion of online respondents say Qatar’s infrastructure will improve (77 percent) if it hosts the FIFA World Cup in 2022, it will have increased global presence (75 percent) as well as increase in tourism (73 percent). Almost two- thirds of the respondents say Qatar will benefit in terms of large number of sports facilities (65 percent), increased leisure facilities (63 percent) and increased prospects of businesses to enter/expand in Qatar (62 percent).
Not surprisingly, more than half of the respondents say dealing with the culture gap between Qatar and football fans from other countries (such as access to alcohol) (54 percent), can pose to be an important issue for Qatar when making arrangements for the FIFA 2022 World Cup. Additionally, similar proportion of respondents say creating new leisure destinations for the visitors/fans to unwind and providing air-conditioned avenues for all FIFA associated events could be of a concern to Qatar (46 percent), while almost a third of the respondents say building new stadiums (32 percent) and building new hotels for the visitors and fans to stay (31 percent) could be important issues which Qatar can face.
Overall, a high proportion of online respondents say FIFA should not allow another nation to hold the FIFA 2022 World Cup after having granted Qatar the right to do so (75 percent).
The survey was conducted using the YouGov Online Panel and all questionnaires were completed between the 26h September – 30th September 2013. The results are based on a total sample of 1212 respondents living in Qatar.